Free flowing shortening composition



United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A dry-to-the-touchshortening composition containing not more than 80% shortening and notless than gelatinized starch, said gelatinized starch having a particlesize which passes through a mesh screen, a bulk density of from 4-10pounds per cubic foot, a cold water solubility of not less than 20%, anda moisture content of not more than 11%. This composition can be usedfor pre- I paring pie-dough mixes and the like.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 330,784, filed Dec. 16, 1963,and now abandoned.

My invention relates to new gelatinized, cold water soluble, low bulkdensity starch products. More particularly, my invention relates to newcold-water-soluble, lowbulk-density starch products which are especiallyeffective as fat absorbents.

Dry baking mixes, such as sweet dough, biscuits, cake and pie crustmixes are made by incorporating shortening into flour and, depending onthe particular product, other ingredients such as dried eggs, dried milksolids, yeast, baking powder, salt, etc. In order to producesatisfactory bakery products it is necessary that the mix containsuflicient shortening. For example, pie crusts of the highest qualityshould contain on a dry substance basis about 35 to shortening. Suchshortening levels create no particular problem when the bakery productis prepared in the home directly from the individual ingredients.However, when it is attempted to prepare dry mixes which must bepackaged and then stored under varying temperature conditions forextended periods of time without caking or clumping, the high shorteninglevels present numerous problems. The principal problem is that whenhigh levels of shortening are used the mix tends to cake and lose itsfree flowing property. Such a mix is unattractive and difficult to workinto a suitable bakery product. Another disadvantage accompanying theuse of high levels of shortening is that shortening tends to exude fromthe mix or grease out before a uniform mixture is obtained.

In order to overcome these problems, various solutions have beenproposed. One solution is to incorporate into the mix a small amount ofa fat absorbent material. This is best accomplished by first mixing allor a portion of the shortening with the amount of fat absorbent to beused in the baking mix and then adding this shortening mix to the otheringredients. Finely ground unmodified starch has been used as a fatabsorbent in dry shortening mixes. However, its fat absorbing ability isgenerally considered to be inadequate for use in most dry mixes. It hasrecently been reported that microcrystalline cellulose is far superiorto unmodified starch as a fat absorbing material. Microcrystal-linecellulose, however, suffers from the disadvantages of beingnon-nutritive and much more expensive than starch.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide aninexpensive, nutritive, etlicient fat absorbent for use in baking mixes.

It is a further object of the present invention to proice vide a dryshortening composition which contains a high ratio of shortening toshortening-absorbent.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a new,gelatinized, cold-water-soluble, low-bulk-density starch which issuitable for a wide variety of uses.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from thespecification and claims which follow.

The objects of the present invention are obtained by the preparation anduse of a gelatinized starch having a cold water solubility (C.W.S.) ofnot less than a bulk density (B.D.) of from 4 to 10 lbs. per cubic footwhen measured at a particle size which is sufiiciently small to allownot less than 99% of the starch to pass through a 40 mesh screen, and amoisture content of not more than 11% by weight based on the starch drysubstance. The new gelatinized starch of my invention is convenientlyprepared by the general extrusion method of the type described in US.Ser. No. 100,354 by Thomas F. Protzman and John A. Wagoner, filed Apr.3, 1961. This method generally comprises intensely working or shearing amixture of starch raw material and starch swelling agent such as waterin a confining chamber at elevated temperatures up to 250 C. and atpressures above the autogenous vapor pressure of the starch-starchswelling agent mixture for a short period of time, usually ranging fromabout 0.5 to about 5 minutes, the working being sufficient to provide anadiabatic temperature rise of at least 50 C. in the worked mixture, andimmediately after said working transferring the worked mixture throughan extrusion orifice to a zone of substantially reduced temperature andpressure. After the extrusion, the dried product can be ground to theproper particle size.

The starch used to prepare my new gelatinized starch may be a naturallyoccurring starch, a modified starch, a dextrinized starch or aderivative of starch. We include pregelatinized starch and starch whichcan be gelatinized at a temperature below 250 C. Mainly from thestandpoint of consistent production of a uniform product, we have foundthat it is preferable to utilize a dextrinized starch, or a modifiedstarch such as an acid-hydrolyzed starch or an oxidized starch.

As previously stated, my new gelatinized starch must have a cold watersolubility (C.W.S.) of not less than 80%. For the purpose of thisinvention, cold water solubility (C.W.S.) is defined as the percent byweight of starch which dissolves in water at 25 C. according to thefollowing procedure:

1 gram of starch product ground to pass a 40 mesh screen is shaken 2hours with 50 grams of distilled water at 25 C. in a 100 ml. Kohlrauschflask with a wrist-action shaker. Water is then added to the flask tothe 100 ml. mark, the contents are mixed thoroughly, transferred to a250 m1. round bottom centrifuge tube and centrifuged for 15 minutes at2000 rpm. A 25 ml. aliquot of the clear centrifugate is transferred to atared aluminum pan and evaporated to dryness on a steam bath. The dishis then dried to constant weight in an oven at C. The weight of thedried material in the pan multiplied by 400 and divided by the drystarch weight of the original sample is the cold water solubility of thestarch product.

Also, as previously stated, my new gelatinized starch must have a bulkdensity (B.D.) of from about 4 to about 10 pounds per cubic foot whenmeasured at a particle size which is sufliciently small to allow notless than 99% of the starch to pass through a No. 40 mesh screen. Thescreens utilized for measurement are the US. Bureau of Standards sieveseries. For the purpose this invention the bulk density is determined bythe following procedure:

Ground starch is added to a tared 600 ml. stainless steel beaker untilthe beaker overflows. The beaker is then leveled and the weight in gramsof the contents of the 3 beaker is determined. The ratio of the weightin grams of the contents to the volume of the beaker is the bulk densityas expressed in grams per cubic centimeter. The bulk density in poundsper cubic foot is calculated by multiplying the figure obtained by 62.4.

As stated above, I have found that my new gelatinized starch isespecially suitable as a fat absorbent for use in dry bakery mixes. Forsuch use I have found that the particle size of the starch productshould be such that at least 99% of the material passes through a 40mesh screen. I prefer that at least 75% of the material pass through a100 mesh screen. The amount of shortening which can be satisfactorilycombined with my starch product to give a dry-to-the-touch, non-cakingshortening mix naturally will vary depending among other things, on theultimate use of the mix, the storage conditions, especially humidity andtemperature, the length of the storage period and the particularshortening utilized. Generally my new starch product of the generalparticle size described forms a dry-to-the-touch, non-caking shorteningmixture with up to 4 times its weight of shortening. Thus, by using aslittle as 5% by weight of my new starch in a baking mix, up to 20%shortening may be included in the baking mix without allowing for thefat absorbing ability of the other dry ingredients. Accordingly, I haveprovided a dry-to-the-touch, noncaking shortening mix containing up to80% shortening by weight of the new starch-shortening composition.However, when long storage periods under conditions of high relativehumidity and high temperature are contemplated, it is often preferableto limit the amount of shortening to 60% of the total shortening mix.For practical purposes it is not necessary to use less than 40%shortening in the shortening composition.

Any shortening of the type used in bakery products may be employed toform my dry shortening composition. Shortenings such as the triglycerideoils or fats derived from animal sources, such as oleostearine, whaleoil, fish oil, lard or edible tallow, and from plant sources, such ascottonseed oil, peanut oil, corn oil, soy oil and the like, and mixturesof the aforementioned, are suitable for use in forming mystarch-shortening composition. Shortenings which have been hardened byhydrogenation, and shortenings which in their natural state are eitherliquids or solids at room temperature, may be used in the composition.

My new dry-to-the-touch, non-caking shortening com- Example 1 Starchpellets containing 14.8% by weight moisture, based on the Weight of thestarch dry substance, are prepared by pelletizing in a pellet mill amixture containing 25 parts by weight water and 400 parts by weightacidhydrolyzed starch, the starch having been hydrolyzed withhydrochloric acid. The starch pellets are prepared for easy andconvenient feeding to a conventional screw type plastics extruder of thegeneral type described in US. Ser. No. 100,354. Such an extrudergenerally comprises a long barrel, a screw fitting within the barrel, arotating means for the screw and a means for heating (or cooling) thematerial in the extruder. The extruder used in this example has a feedopening at one end of the barrel to which the pelletized starch is fedand a discharge opening or die at the opposite end of the barrel fromwhich the gelatinized starch leaves the extruder. In the extruder usedin this example the screw is 62" long, 2.5 in diameter and has a pitchof 2.5. In the first 3 of the screw (measured from the feed opening) thescrew flight is 0.5, i.e. the helix rib projects radially 0.5 beyond thescrew shaft. In the next 44" of the screw the flight depth decreasesuniformly from 0.5" to 0.15, and in the remaining 15" of the screw theflight depth remains .constant at 0.15. The die is rectangular in shapeand is 2" wide, A" high and /2" long.

The starch pellets previously referred to are fed into the extruder andthe screw is rotated at r.p.m. thus forcing the material under pressurethrough the extruder and out the die. The work done on the starch by thescrew and the heat applied to the extruder by the external heating meansconvert the starch into a fluid mass during its passage through theextruder. The heat is so controlled in this example to raise thetemperature of the fluid mass to about 230 C. at the die or dischargeend of the extruder. During operation the pressure within the extruder,measured at the midpoint of the screw, is about 400 p.s.i.g. The productcoming out of the die is a brittle, highly porous, continuous, thinsheet of congealed material. The material is allowed to cool to roomtemperature and then ground to pass a 40 mesh screen. The ground productobtained in this example has a bulk density of 7.9, a cold watersolubility of 99.9% and a moisture content of 6.9%.

Additional examples of the preparation of my new starch products aregiven in Table 1. The products are prepared following the generalprocedure utilized in Example 1.

TABLE 1 Moisture of B. D. of C. W. S. Die \Iost re f Example StarchStarting Material Starting Product of Product, Temperal P roh ueiMaterial, Percent ture, C. Percent Percent Acid-hydrolyzed starch 13. 17. 3 98 225 6.8 do 12.9 7.5 98 230 6,0 .do 13.3 8.7 225 6.; 5 "do.-. 13.4 8.0 99 220 6, 3 t; do I 15. 5 0. 9 100 .240 10, 4 7lIypoehloritc-oxidized starch 25. 5 9.8 98 200 3, 0

position may be compounded by any suitable means. The Example 8shortening may be either in the liquid or in the solid state. In anycase, to obtain best results it is naturally necessary to uniformly mixthe shortening with the starch. This is easily accomplished usingstandard mixing equipment. The mixing is typically carried out at roomtemperature by adding the shortening to the starch or by adding thestarch to the shortening.

My new gelatinized starch naturally has a wide variety of uses otherthan as an absorbent for shortening. In particular, it is especiallyuseful as a laundry starch which can be dispersed in cold water with aminimum amount of agitation.

The following examples are offered to illustrate my invention.

Comparative testing of the gelatinized starch of Example 1, powderedunmodified starch passed through a No. 40 mesh screen andmicrocrystalline cellulose passed through a No. 40 mesh screen asabsorbents for fat has been carried out. The test was conducted in thefollowing manner:

A dry-to-the-touch, noncaking shortening mix was prepared by mixing 60grams of the gelatinized starch of Example 1 with 100 grams of corn oil.The resulting mix was judged suitable for use in dry bakery mixes. Themixing was carried out in a Hobart mixer by adding the gelatinizedstarch to the corn oil. This mix was used as a standard for comparisonwith mixes prepared with microcrystalline cellulose and with powderedunmodified starch. Table 2 shows the amount of microcrystallinecellulose and the amount of powdered unmodified starch needed to obtaindry mixes which were judged equal to the standard.

TABLE 2 were blended with 20 grams of lard in a Hobart mixer at lowspeed for 30 seconds to obtain a dry-to-the-touch, non-clumping mixture.To this mixture were then added 18 grams of lard, 55 grams of wheatflour and 2 grams This test shows that my gelatinized starch product isnearly twice as effective as microcrystalline cellulose and three timesas effective as unmodified starch as an absorbent for fat.

Example 9 To show the effect of bulk density on the fat absorbingability of gelatinized starches, a comparative test of a gelatinizedstarch having a bulk density of 5 pounds per cubic foot, a gelatinizedstarch having a bulk density of 10 pounds per cubic foot and agelatinized starch having a bulk density of 18 pounds per cubic foot wascarried out. Each gelatinized starch was produced from an acidhydrolyzedstarch according to the general procedure of Example 1. The test wasconducted in the following manner:

A dry-to-the-touch, non-caking shortening mix was prepared by mixing 36grams of the gelatinized starch having a bulk density of 5 pounds percubic foot with 100 grams of corn oil. The resulting mix was judgedsuitable for use in dry bakery mixes. The mixing was carried out in aHobart mixer by adding the starch to the corn oil. This mix was used asa standard for comparison with mixes prepared with the gelatinizedstarch having a bulk density of 10 pounds per cubic foot and thegelatinized starch having a bulk density of 18 pounds per cubic foot.Table 3 shows the amount of gelatinized starch having a bulk density of10 and the amount of gelatinized starch having a bulk density of 18needed to obtain dry mixes which were judged equal to the standard.

TABLE 3 of salt. The resulting mixture was blended for 2 /2 minutes inthe Hobart mixer at low speed. The material obtained was dry to thetouch and non-caking. It was judged suitable as a dry pie crust mix. Acomparison of the mix of Example 10 where none of my gelatinized starchwas utilized with the mix of Example 11 where 5 grams of my gelatinizedstarch was utilized showed the efiectiveness of my new gelatinizedstarch as a fat absorbent in pie crust mixes.

Example 12 A dry-to-the-touch, non-caking, sweet-dough mix containing myshortening mix is prepared by mixing a dry shortening containing 4 partsby weight of the product of Example 1 with 16 parts by weight of lardwith the following ingredients:

Ingredients: Parts by weight Flour 43.5 Sugar 22.0 Non-fat milk solids6.0 Emulsifiers 6.0 Salt 2.5

No. of Grams of Absorbent Required For 100 g. of Com Oil This test showsthat the gelatinized starch having a bulk density of 5 is nearly twotimes as effective as the gelatinized starch having a bulk density of 10and is nearly six times as effective as the gelatinized starch having abulk density of 18 as an absorbent for fat.

Example 10 The following are the ingredients for a dry pie crust mix:

Grams Flour 60 Lard 38 Salt 2 Example 11 To demonstrate the qualit of adry pie-dough mix incorporating my gelatinized starch product as a fatabsorbent, 5 grams of the gelatinized starch of Example 1 I claim:

1. A dry-to-the-touch, non-caking shortening composition which comprisesnot more than by weight of shortening and correspondingly not less than.20% by weight of a gelatinized starch, the weights based on the weightof the shortening composition, the said gelatinized starch having aparticle size which is sufliciently small to allow not less than 99% ofthe said starch to pass through a 40 mesh screen and being characterizedby a bulk density of from about 4 to about 10 pounds per cubic foot, acold water solubility of not less than 80% and a moisture content of notmore than 11% by weight based on the starch dry substance.

2. The shortening composition of claim 1 wherein the gelatinized starchis an acid hydrolyzed starch.

3. The shortening composition of claim 1 wherein the gelatinized starchis an oxidized starch.

4. The shortening composition of claim 1 wherein the gelatinized starchis a dextrinized starch.

5. A baking mix comprising a major amount of flour and a minor amount ofa dry-to-the-touch, non-caking shortening composition which comprisesnot more than 80% by weight of shortening and correspondingly not lessthan 20% by weight of a gelatinized starch, the weights based on theweight of the shortening composition, the said gelatinized starch havinga particle size which is sufiiciently small to allow not less than 99%of the said starch to pass through a 40 mesh screen and beingcharacterized by a bulk density of from about 4 to about 10 pounds percubic foot, a cold water solubility of not less than 80% and a moisturecontent of not more than 11% by weight based on the starch drysubstance.

6. The shortening composition of claim 1 wherein said compositioncomprises not more than 60% by weight of shortening and correspondinglynot less than 40% by weight of gelatinized starch.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS MAURICE W. GREENSTEIN, PrimaryExaminer.

